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Self-service ad agency gets WPP financing

Web-based ad agency Spot Runner has confirmed it has gained a new round of funding from WPP, CBS, Interpublic and other major media groups.

The firm, whose site enables small companies to create and place ads on local TV stations, said it had received $40m to expand into new forms of media, including online video, video-on-demand and IPTV.

The round also included Allen & Company, Tudor Investment Corporation, Capital Research and Management, Lachlan Murdoch and financier Vivi Nevo, as well as follow-on investments from Index Ventures and Battery Ventures.

WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell told e-consultancy earlier this month that it had put money into the venture – one of a string of investments the ad giant has made in the online space this year.

Google is also believed to have been interested in taking a stake in the firm, but to have pulled out over price.

Spot Runner said it plans to use the new funds to refine its ad solutions for local TV channels, as well as to add support for web-based TV and video platforms.

Nick Grouf, president and CEO of Spot Runner, said: “We look forward to creating more opportunities for media companies to increase the value of their ad inventory and for ad agencies to target more effectively by creating more efficiencies in the ad buying process.”

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